Tinker v. Hobbs
| Decision Date | 13 March 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 6034,6034 |
| Citation | 294 P.2d 659,80 Ariz. 166 |
| Parties | Ralph E. TINKER, Appellant, v. Louise HOBBS, a single woman, Appellee. |
| Court | Arizona Supreme Court |
Carl W. Divelbiss and W. J. Richmond, Phoenix, for appellant.
Shimmel, Hill & Cavanagh, Phoenix, for appellee.
LA PRADE, Chief Justice.
Plaintiff-appellant, Ralph Tinker, brought this action to recover for personal injuries sustained in an automobile accident. After a trial by jury resulting in a verdict for defendant, plaintiff moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial, both of which were denied. This appeal is from the adverse judgment and the orders denying said motions.
Appellant was injured in 1952 when the family car, being driven by his wife, Love Tinker, collided with defendant's automobile. In March, 1953 Ralph Tinker filed this action in his individual name. In June, 1953 Love Tinker instituted a divorce action against Ralph Tinker, which resulted in a decree of divorce on August 18 of that same year. The case at bar came to trial on July 6, 1954. Prior to the trial defendant moved to add Love Tinker as an additional party plaintiff on the grounds that she was Tinker's wife at the time of the accident; that by the decree of divorce she had been awarded a twenty-five per cent interest in the net recovery, if any; and therefore, she was an indispensable or necessary party to the action. This motion was granted by the trial court and Love Tinker became an involuntary party plaintiff. At the trial defendant presented evidence that Love Tinker had been guilty of contributory negligence. The trial court instructed the jury that if they should find as a fact that Love Tinker had been negligent, and that such negligence contributed to the accident, then such contributory negligence was imputable to the plaintiff Ralph Tinker and would preclude any recovery by him. Appellant contends that this instruction was erroneous. All of his assignments of error are directed at that conclusion.
As in most community property states, Arizona follows the rule that damages for personal injuries of either spouse are community property, Pacific Const. Co. v. Cochran, 1926, 29 Ariz. 554, 243 P. 405; City of Phoenix v. Dickson, 1932, 40 Ariz. 403, 12 P.2d 618; Fox Tucson Theatres Corporation v. Lindsay, 1936, 47 Ariz. 388, 56 P.2d 183, and as a corollary of this doctrine the contributory negligence of one spouse is imputable to the other and will bar any recovery for damages for personal injuries sustained by the other spouse. Pacific Construction Co. v. Cochran, supra. The rationale behind this doctrine is to prevent a guilty party from profiting from his own wrong.
Appellant does not question the above holdings. Rather does he base his attack on the ground that the contributory negligence of Love Tinker could not be imputed to him after the marital relationship had been dissolved. Appellant does not cite any cases directly in support of this proposition but relies upon the premise espoused in California and New Mexico that the contributory negligence of one spouse will not be imputed to the other, when the one guilty of such negligence dies as a result of the accident. Flores v. Brown, 1952, 39 Cal.2d 622, 248 P.2d 922; Trefzer v. Stiles, 1952, 56 N.M. 296, 243 P.2d 605. In spite of certain language in the Flores case referring to the time at which the cause of action accrues we do not believe either that case or the Trefzer case are in point since in both fact situations the causes of action accrued after or simultaneous with the death of the party guilty of contributory negligence.
More analogous to the case at bar is the fact situation in Kesler v. Pabst, 1954, 43 Cal.2d 254, 273 P.2d 257. Here a man and his wife were injured in an automobile accident and both spouses sued. Defendant based his defense partly on the plaintiff-husband's contributory negligence. A jury found for defendant and plaintiff-wife moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. This motion was predicated on the idea that her husband's contributory...
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Dashiell v. KEAUHOU-KONA COMPANY
...from his own wrongdoing, as a result of his community ownership of a part of the recovery by the non-negligent spouse. Tinker v. Hobbs, 80 Ariz. 166, 294 P.2d 659 (1956); Clark v. Foster, 87 Idaho 134, 391 P.2d 853, 860 Although this exception is inapplicable in Hawaii, which has abolished ......
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Flowers v. Flowers
...by a spouse during marriage are community property, even if payment of the damages are recovered after divorce. Tinker v. Hobbs, 80 Ariz. 166, 294 P.2d 659 (1956); Pacific Construction Co. v. Cochran, 29 Ariz. 554, 243 P. 405 (1926); Kenyon v. Kenyon, 5 Ariz.App. 267, 425 P.2d 578 We cannot......
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Di Tolvo v. Di Tolvo
...by the injured person. It is also property owned by his spouse, to the extent of the latter's interest therein. See Tinker v. Hobbs, 80 Ariz. 166, 294 P.2d 659 (Sup.Ct.1956); Carver v. Ferguson, 254 P.2d 44 (D.Ct.App. 3rd Dist. Cal.1953), involving, however, community property statutes. The......
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DeLozier v. Smith
...of one spouse is imputed to the other so as to prevent a guilty party from profiting from his own wrong. Heimke, supra; Tinker v. Hobbs, 80 Ariz. 166, 294 P.2d 659 (1956). In the case of Quintero v. Continental Rent-A-Car System, Inc., 105 Ariz. 135, 460 P.2d 189 (1969), our Supreme Court h......